


Gunshots

by kronette



Category: A-Team (TV)
Genre: Episode Related, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-29
Updated: 2012-12-29
Packaged: 2017-11-22 19:44:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/613560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kronette/pseuds/kronette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A challenge was issued to write the thoughts of one or two of the members of the Team during, "Firing Line."</p>
<p>The sudden explosion of multiple gunshots echoed across the water.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gunshots

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted October 2000 under my other pseud, Shelley Wright.

The sudden explosion of multiple gunshots echoed across the water.    
  
Murdock squeezed his hands between his knees to stop the shaking.  He closed his eyes and prayed, not for the first time, that the Team would be safe.  He'd done so much to save them.  Found Chung Van Went, enlisted Frankie's help, even pulled a gun on Stockwell, to try to help them.  His friends.  His lover.  He swallowed and tried not to think about what was happening behind those concrete walls.  The subtle rocking motion of the boat startled him, and he almost begged the pilot to return them to the island.  He couldn't leave, not without knowing.  The worst was not knowing.  The brief glimpse he'd gotten of the Team hadn't been enough.  He tried to convey all his feelings to his lover with just a glance, but so much more needed to be said.  So much was left unsaid.  He started to hyperventilate, panic overtaking what little rational mindset he'd achieved in his mission.  Frankie's touch to his shoulder was of no comfort.  What would he know of it, anyway?  He was too young for Vietnam.  Frankie could never *know* what the Team meant to each other.  How they would literally lay down their lives for each other.  That sort of loyalty couldn't be bought or forced.  It came with years of trust.  And at least in one instance, love.    
  
A sob caught in his chest as he thought of his lover.  It had taken them both by surprise; their feelings for each other.  The intensity of those feelings.  It had been his lover's decision to keep their relationship a secret from the rest of the Team.  Murdock had abided by his wishes, but he felt uneasy at the deception.  It cut into the deep trust that the Team held for each other.  Now, now he wished he could hold him once more, give voice to the love he felt.  They never actually said the words, 'I love you,' and now Murdock ached at the thought he might not ever get the chance.    
  
Please, please don't let him die, he prayed silently.  He didn't know how much his prayers would mean, since he'd hit the priest.  He didn't regret his actions; he'd been desperate.  He would have done anything, literally anything, to save his friends.  Save his lover.  They'd been through too much to have it end like this.  It couldn't end like this.  If there was a God who watched over those who protected those who couldn't protect themselves, then they qualified.  God, did they qualify.  They'd been through so much shit in their lives, always with the idea that they were doing the right thing.  Trying to help others.  Not taking money from those who couldn't afford to pay for their services.  Who would help the Team, now?  Who among all those they'd helped even knew what the Team was facing right now?    
  
Images of his friends and lover lying in pools of blood threatened to overwhelm him.  Icy coldness seeped into his veins, numbing him.  It was a familiar feeling, if not comforting.  Numb had been his escape in Vietnam.  Numb would be his escape now.  No, no, he couldn't leave now!  The Team needed him!  Come back, Murdock.  Come back, he ordered himself.    
  
The subtle rocking motion of the boat startled him, and he almost begged the pilot to return them to the island.  So much more needed to be said.  He just needed a few seconds.  Just enough time to voice the love he felt.  If his plan didn't work, if one bullet didn't get switched, if the drugs didn't work or even killed them outright, he'd have lost the chance.  He would have to carry the unspoken love he felt for the rest of his life, not knowing if his lover knew how deeply he cared for him.   
  
He could speak them.  His lover might not ever hear them, but he would give voice to his feelings.    
  
"I love you, Colonel," he whispered.    
  
The sudden explosion of multiple gunshots echoed across the water, and he went numb.    
  
_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_  
  
Hannibal walked between his troops onto the field.  It wasn't a field he particularly liked, but he had little choice in the matter.  They had a plan, and it was going to work.  It had to work.    
  
Their lives depended on it.    
  
He didn't come up with this plan; Murdock did. Murdock, the man they all vowed to protect with their guilty plea.  He didn't expect Face and B.A. to join him in his sacrifice.  He did it for love; they did it for loyalty.  The end result was the same, though.  They were all giving their lives to save another.  Wasn't that the ultimate sacrifice?  No greater love has a man who lays down his life for another?  It held true in Vietnam, and it held true now.  Hannibal would do anything, sacrifice anything, if it protected Murdock.    
  
He couldn't protect Murdock from the pain of his death, though.  He'd kept up his bravado for Face and B.A., but deep down, he had his doubts about their survival.  Too many variables to calculate.  Too many unknowns in their normal game, such as Stockwell and Frankie.  What a pair those two were.  Frankie trying to sabotage them, then offering to help.  As for Stockwell, if they survived this, Hannibal would make sure Stockwell paid for his hand in their predicament.  He didn't take well to backstabbers, and Stockwell was of the highest breed.    
  
The general was finished listing their crimes.  He shifted his cigar to the other side of his mouth and unconsciously straightened his back.  He would not face the firing squad like a guilty man.  He would face them as a man who made a willing sacrifice to save his lover.  Not that they ever need know that.    
  
Anger flared through him.  How dare they try to pit the Team against each other?  How dare they try to use Murdock against them?  What gave them the right to choose one human being's innocence and another's guilt?  Who appointed them judge of who lives and who dies?  Surely not God.  God would never condone these murders.  And they were murders, plain and simple.  A Mickey-mouse trial to back them into a corner - save themselves or save their friend.  Hannibal almost didn't see it in time.  He almost let them get away with it.  They would not drag Murdock's name through the mud.  Murdock had been through too much already.  He'd sacrificed too much for his country and for his friends.  Hannibal wouldn't allow the US Army to destroy his reputation as well.  It was one of the few things that Murdock still had that was intact.    
  
Lord knows his sanity was lost in Vietnam.  He wasn't as bad as he used to be, when Hannibal held him through the night after a nightmare.  But even a lover's touch could only hold the demons at bay for so long.  After their return trip to 'Nam, Murdock's nightmares had returned, and Hannibal comforted him in the middle of the night, just like he always had.  Then they made love, Murdock sending him to a place where no nightmares existed for either of them.  Would that be the last time he held his lover?    
  
He should have refused the blindfold, but he admitted to a second of weakness.  He couldn't look at their dispassionate faces and wonder which one of them held a live bullet.  If any of them did.  Too many uncertainties.  Too many variables.    
  
He conjured up his brief glimpse of Murdock before the guards realized who he was.  He tried to convey all his feelings with just a smile, but so much more needed to be said.  He knew Murdock felt uneasy not telling the rest of the Team about their relationship, but for once in his life, Hannibal wanted something all for himself.  All to himself.  Glancing into those deep, soulful eyes had all but undid him.  Would he see them again?  Would he feel Murdock's touch again?  Would he get the chance to say the three words he didn't dare speak to another living soul?    
  
He bit down on the cigar as the general barked out, "Present arms."    
  
At the 'aim' order, he let out on a breath, "I love you, Murdock."    
  
He didn't hear the order to fire.    
  
The End  
  



End file.
